Revealed: The best and worst places to be a woman

An Independent on Sunday investigation to mark International Women’s Day unearths some surprising results…

When more than half of the world’s population wakes up on Thursday ”“ the 101st International Women’s Day ”“ it will be hard to know whether to celebrate or give in to despair. A British woman will face the prospect of at least 14 more general elections before women equal men in the Commons. But a woman in Qatar will be six times more likely to go to university than the man next door.

The global gender gap defies simple solutions. Eighty-five per cent of countries have improved conditions for women over the past six years, according to the World Economic Forum, but in economic and political terms there is still a long way to go.

“From London to Lahore,” says Oxfam, “inequality between men and women persists.” Here The Independent on Sunday explores the best places to be a woman today.

Tina

A year ago, on International Womenâ€™s Day, a few hundred Egyptian women paraded through Cairoâ€™s Tahrir Square only to be booed, spat on and jostled by several dozen men. â€œGo home and look after the children,â€ some taunted them, mocking their presence in the iconic heart of Egyptâ€™s popular uprising. More at the link

Any conversation with Lennox makes it clear she has a lot of views, which she first publicised when she donned a man’s suit, prompting gossip that she was gay. “It was about power and politics,” she says of her look. “It was about saying: ‘I’m the same as him’ [Dave Stewart, her Eurythmics co-star and former partner]. I’m a female but I have a masculine side and I’m not going to negate that part of myself.”

Her views expand to feminism and her opinion that men should be welcomed into the movement. “I don’t think feminism is about the exclusion of men but their inclusion … we must face and address those issues, especially to include younger men and boys,” she says, before adding that she is particularly surprised that more gay men (and a few lesbians) don’t see themselves as feminists. “I would like to see the gay population get on board with feminism. It’s a beautiful organisation and they’ve done so much. It seems to me a no-brainer.” More